HOW TO: receive MessageBank messages as text messages
Filed under: consumer, how to, Message Bank, Voice2text
Do you wish you could receive your MessageBank messages automatically transcribed into SMS? You may be surprised to know that this is available right now, and you’ll probably be surprised at how well it works!
This is definitely one of my favourite Telstra services and I’m always surprised at how few people are aware of it. It’s a massive timesaver, as you can quickly skim through a text message in just a few seconds compared to listening to a minutes-long voicemail.
If you’re not a believer in technology and want to see how well this service works – just call 1800 612 199 from your mobile phone (standard call charges apply) and leave a voice message. Shortly afterwards, you’ll receive it to your mobile as a Voice2Text message. Pretty cool.
You can still call MessageBank to hear the original recorded message if need be. If you receive a really long voicemail, we’ll transcribe the first three text messages then display “Long Message, call 101” so you can hear the rest of it.
There are some really neat little touches that make this product work well. It’s intelligent enough to know when to capitalise names and streets, and adds a little (?) mark if it’s not completely sure of the translation.
Try Voice2text for free today
The good news is that you can try out Voice2text for free for your first month (available once per customer). When you first subscribe you’ll automatically receive all of your Voice2Text messages for free.
After that, the monthly charge starts at $5, with different options based on how many messages you receive each week. Find out more. It’s a comparable charge to dialling into MessageBank and I reckon it’s much more productive if you receive a lot of voicemails. Give it a shot now!
To set up Voice2Text:
- Visit http://m.bigpond.com on your mobile.
- Select the My tab.
- In the My Mobile Features section, select Manage my settings. If you can’t see this option and you’re on a Wi-Fi network, you’ll need to temporarily disconnect your Wi-Fi connection so we can access details about your account.
- Select Managing Calls.
- In the Voice2Text section, select your preferred plan and follow the prompts.
If you need a hand setting up the service, the quickest way to contact us is via Live Chat or Telstra 24×7 on Facebook.
You can also call us on 125 111.
It is great to see Telstra is embracing new technology.
In the USA, Google have been providing this exact voice mail to text service through Google Voice for three years, all for FREE!
(ie. Why does Telstra charge $5 per month for this basic service)
In addition to free voicemail, Google voice also offers very low cost local and long distance phone calls through the same service, which Telstra blocks on the phone network.
Why instead of working WITH cutting edge technology companies, has Telstra been attempting to re-invent/re-engineer these services and rebrand them as a Telstra product?
I suggest it is about time that Telstra stopped pretending it was any good at engineering technologies and started leveraging agreements with third parties such as Skype, Google, Apple and other hardware, software and VOIP providers. This would allow Australians access to the latest technology at MUCH lower costs than Telstra are currently offering.
It isnt really a new technology. Telstra have been offering it for as long as I can remember.
But as it is not a free service and I have never heard a telstra salesperson mention it in a store i do not think many people know about it.
>In addition to free voicemail, Google voice also offers very low cost local and long distance phone calls through the same service, which Telstra blocks on the phone network.
Well google voice is not a mobile phone provider, they are a VoIP provider.
Google voice is offering a VoIP service, it is nothing special and there are MANY companies offering the same thing right here in Australia. Engin, MyNetfone, Pennytel to name a few.
>I suggest it is about time that Telstra stopped pretending it was any good at engineering technologies and started leveraging agreements with third parties such as Skype, Google, Apple and other hardware, software and VOIP providers
Telstra IS good at engineering products, for example when they launched NextG in 2006 it was the fastest mobile network in the world.
Telstra paying money to Skype or Google to provide people with voice calls would be stupid.
Telstra owns the network they use so if Telstra paid money to Skype to provide voice services then Telstra would be paying skype money to use the network which Telstra owns.
Skype does not own any telecommunication infrastructure, if you make a call on skype to an Australian phone then all skype does is pass it along to the Telstra copper network. So why would telstra want to pay Skype money to act as a middle man when skype does not offer anything new?
The fact that Telstra owns the network allows them to provide a much better service than if they decided to resell a Skype or Google product as Telstra is in full control of the entire network and all infrastructure. This also allows them to provide a cheaper service as there is not an extra company in the middle making a profit.
Apple products are very expensive so I don’t see how you can suggest partnering with apple to provide a cheaper service. (Not that Apple can offer Telstra anything to make the Telstra network better as Apple is solely focused on the consumer market.)
Any word on when Google Voice is coming to Australia? I imagine a deal with Telstra is required before this is possible. Google Voice offers much more advanced and convenient control over this sort of thing.
I think your customers would be best served by working out a partnership with Google for Google Voice.
Google voice has nothing to do with Telstra, no special deal with Telstra would be needed.
Google voice is simply a VoIP provider so they wouldn’t need to do anything different to VoIP providers currently operating in Australia.
If you want services similar to google voice then sign up with one of the VoIP companies currently in Australia.
Why not just make it a standatd feature & forget the $5.00 starting price per month or better still be like me & use the 10 second voice2text option.
Here is a link for those interested http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile-phones/apps-services/?red=/mobile/services/call_notific.html#message2txt
Prepaid customers get it already for free.
Why would I pay 5 bucks for a text message instead of what I pay for voicemail.
It’s bad enough with the double dipping of call connection charges without yet another excessively charged seldome useful service.
Great idea but first get the existing technology working. My T -Box spat the dummy after 1 week and it is now 2 months ago and no working T-Box
Hello Robin. Have you already contacted Telstra T-Box support on 1300 136 841? They should be able to give you a fix over the phone or get you a replacement if need be. Brendan.
I am mortified to see my 101 costs every month . they are regularly $50 so $2.00 a pop just to retrieve a message. I tried the service and it got the name I used wrong and could not get “thanks ” correct so I dont hold much hope??????
$5 sounds better the test failed if I cant get the person who called names right.
this is an absolutely useless application, the messaging cannot cope my new zealand accent and the garbled unintelligable messages that I leave on phones or attempt cant even be understood by aussies.
I’m hearing you! Try being called Gigi… Last week I received a message “Hi Gaza”. It has provided many laughs at the messages though
Having said that, I find it pretty handy in trying to get the gist at what the missed call was about.
Why can’t we have the message recorded on the mobile phone handset itself? Like what you used to have in your homes?
This would also avoid paying to Telstra for the message bank or text messages so I would assume they would hate this.
You can, you just need an app that can answer the call automatically and record a message for you as there are no phones that I know of with this feature built in.
This would be impossible on the iPhone and Windows phone operating system though as they do not support multitasking which means that the app could not run in the background to answer the phone for you.
Such a feature would not work when your phone is out of coverage or when you are on a call as your phone would not be able to answer the call to take the message.